West Brom sourced serious value in £8.25m signing | OneFootball

Matheus Pereira starred for WBA across a two-year stay, where he delivered promotion, dazzled in the Premier League and earned them a cool profit

West Bromwich Albion haven't always got it right in the transfer market, but few can contest that they struck gold with the signing of Matheus Pereira.

At the end of their first season back in the Championship, the Baggies fell agonisingly short of achieving promotion by losing out in the play-offs at the hands of West Midlands rivals Aston Villa.

They were in need of an additional, inspirational spark to get them over the line and deliver a prized promotion back to the promised land at the second time of asking that summer, which they duly found in the form of Pereira.

A largely-unknown quantity on English shores at the time of his arrival, Pereira initially headed on loan to the Hawthorns from Sporting CP in a move which was made permanently the season after, and he was sensational in each of his two campaigns with the club as he proved incredibly astute business.

Matheus Pereira's West Brom career

Pereira arrived off the back of a respectable campaign on loan in the Bundesliga with FC Nurnberg. They were relegated in dead last although that was no slight on Pereira, who contributed to five goals from 19 matches and was nominated for the division's Rookie of the Year award alongside the likes of Achraf Hakimi and Reiss Nelson.

Acquiring a player of Pereira's pedigree and promise appeared to represent an impressive capture at the time, then, even though supporters simply hadn't seen much of him. They soon did, though, and he lit up the Hawthorns in a way which no player has come close to replicating since in terms of individual impact.

The Brazilian playmaker was, quite simply, a cheat code in the Championship during the 2019/20 campaign. He scored eight goals and provided a division-high 16 assists, twisting and turning past helpless opposition defenders routinely and at will en-route to inspiring the Baggies back to the Premier League in second-place.

Pereira brought the X-Factor to matches which were crying out for a spark and provided unique, unrivalled creativity when his team needed it most. West Brom, of course, weren't simply a one-man show that year, but Pereira stood head and shoulders above the rest and was ultimately the driving force behind their return to the top-flight.

They were able to sign him permanently after achieving promotion for an £8.25 million fee, which was agreed in the loan deal. It quickly proved to be the bargain many felt it was at the time before West Brom collected a tidy profit, almost doubling what they paid in the process.

As we all know, West Brom's fortunes didn't burn quite so brightly back in the big time as they headed straight back down to the second-tier with just five victories and 26 points to their name, eventually finishing a whole 13 points away from safety.

Mind you, Pereira starred nonetheless and was very much a solitary beacon of light in an otherwise-bleak term, racking up eleven strikes and a further three assists despite his side's relegation.

Supporters were consigned to the likelihood of Pereira's departure that summer, with his proven Premier League class making the prospects of him sticking it out in the Championship remote. Pereira's destination was a shock in many ways, though, as he joined Saudi Pro League outfit Al Hilal for a reported £16 million fee in August 2021.

At least from a statistical standpoint, the mercurial attacking midfielder initially flourished for a star-studded side which now boasts the likes of Joao Cancelo, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Malcom, and, of course, Neymar. Before Al Hilal begun their own spending spree, Pereira set up 14 goals in his first season, but his time with the club eventually proved to be a diaster, a stark contrast from that mesmerising two-year spell at Albion.

Indeed, there was certainly a school of thought at the time that West Brom could well have raked in a higher fee for Pereira, a player who left the club with a combined total of 20 goals and 26 assists across just two years. But that's not the only potential regret from his memorable spell.

West Brom will wish they saw more of Matheus Pereira

Quite simply, supporters didn't see enough of their side's star-turn, and that's a crying shame considering just how good he was during his time at the club.

Pereira's first season was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which postponed the campaign in March. Meanwhile, the entirety of his second and final year was spent behind closed doors, as the Albion faithful had to resort to simply seeing Pereira on their screens instead.

They only ever got to see him in the flesh for just under seven months. Naturally, it still remains a real source of regret and disappointment to this very day, with Pereira representing arguably the most gifted footballer to turn out for the club in recent years.